


Puppy Dog Eyes

by dizzy



Category: Lord of the Rings RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-04-17
Updated: 2003-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-04 15:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3073313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy





	Puppy Dog Eyes

"Why fish?" Billy couldn't help but ask, his eyes fixed on the shimmery, darting creatures in front of him. There were four of them in the bowl, each Dom shrugged. "Why not?"

"They die." Billy says, waggling a finger in front of the glass, just to see if it'll spark any type of reaction. 

"So does everything else." Dom said, with a smirk. 

"But fish, they die quickly. I had one once - last about a month. I hated it." 

"The fish?"

"That it died." 

"Oh. Right. Well. Maybe mine won't die." 

"I think you're commitment shy." 

Dom gave Billy an odd look. "What?" Billy said. 

"I'm not commitment shy." 

"Mm." Billy hummed. "If you say so." 

Dom frowned. "I'm not." 

"Of course you're not." Billy said, his voice tinted with bitterness. Dom almost groaned, but caught himself. It would only make things worth. "That's why you're moving to LA, right? Because you're so heavy into commitment." 

"Don't start that again." Dom said. 

"Fine. I'm going to take a look around. Come find me when you're done... picking out fish." 

Billy walked away. Dom had the urge to run after him, to shout or plead or do whatever would make things better. 

But the simple fact was, Dom was leaving and it upset Billy. What could Dom possibly say?

 

Billy felt like crying. Of course, being a man, he would never dare give in to the urge - but that didn't stop his eyes from burning and his throat from tightening. 

Dom. Leaving. Dom, not here. Not with him. 

It hurt. In a way that he hadn't quite ever felt before. He wasn't just losing a partner. He was losing a best friend. He was losing the person that made his life worth living, for the past two years. He was losing Dom. 

A pitiful whining distracted him. He glanced over at the aisle, a long row of plastic cages that held puppies. "Hey, there, buddy." He kneeled down to look more closely at the source of the sound, low and mournful. "What's wrong?" 

Having got his attention, the puppy - small and tan with thick, fluffly fur and big eyes - yapped, nuzzling his nose against the bars. Billy reached a hand in, getting a sloppy lick to his palm in return. "Friendly, aren't you, now?" 

"Would you like to hold him, sir?" The a young girl in a tacky green smock appeared out of nowhere. 

"Ah-" Billy glanced at the dog, who seemed to be pleading with him. "Sure, why not?" He stood up, brushed the dust off of his knees. 

The girl opened the cage and handed the puppy to Billy. "He's about six months old. Someone left a litter outside on our doorstep about three months ago. He's the last one - kind of a runt." 

The puppy squirmed in Billy's arms, his cold nose pressing into Billy's throat, tail wagging madly. "Runt? Doesn't look like much of a runt to me, do you, eh?" he said, but when he looked up, the girl was assisting someone else. 

"Just a little bit sad. All alone, are you? Yeah, I know how you feel." Billy buried his face into the soft, sweet smelling fur. 

Billy heard a shuffling behind him. "You finished?" He asked, knowing that it was Dom, in that way that he had of knowing Dom and sensing when he was nearby. His skin tingled, when Dom was close. His heart raced. He got a heady, lightheadedness. Dom. Everywhere. How would he live without that feeling? Knowing that Dom wouldn't be there? 

"Yep." Dom said. Billy put the puppy back in it's cage, nodding at the girl. It gave his hand a farewell slurp as he rubbed behind it's ears. Then he turned to Dom.

"Get what you wanted?"

"Yep." He held up the tall, rounded glass. "It's a Purple Dragon Guppy. Neat, huh?"

"Yeah." Billy smiled, sincere if weary. "Real neat." 

"Billy-" Dom started. 

"Don't. Look- I'm sorry. You're leaving tomorrow... I don't want this to end with us fighting. I'm sorry." 

"I don't either." They looked at each other for a long moment. 

Billy reached over and took the aquarium from Dom. "So what are you going to name him?"

Dom broke out into a grin, the kind that Billy couldn't help but respond to. "I haven't decided yet... I was thinking, maybe, Billy?"

 

He couldn't even drive Dom to the airport. They wouldn't even have that final goodbye - no, Dom had to call a cab, 

Dom had to be so damned stubborn, even though Billy wanted desperately, just for those extra few minutes of 

having Dom all to himself. 

Their kiss goodbye was not a normal kiss. Normal kisses were either sweet and comforting, gentle reminders of 

affection, or they were hot and needy, lusting - or they were soulful, they were a way of opening up. This was neither 

gentle, nor lusting, nor soulful. This was... goodbye. It lingered, with the bitter sting of a needle left in just a few 

seconds too long. 

Dom turned around and walked out the door, promising to call, soon, as soon as he could. Billy slumped into the 

chair and waited until he was sure that the cab was long gone. Then he grabbed his jacket - he would have to face 

an empty bed soon, but not this soon. Tonight, he would console himself in the only way that he really knew how. 

 

It was long after midnight when he let himself back in - so far into the night, in fact, that it wouldn't be all that much 

longer before the sun would be peeking over the clouds. 

He didn't bother to turn the lights on. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to think, or see, or feel. He just wanted to drop off into blissful unconsciousness. 

He kicked off his shoes once he reached the bedroom, hand fumbling on the wall for the light switch. When he couldn't find it, he decided that he didn't really need it all that much after all. Yanking his shirt over his head, he dropped onto the bed. 

And onto Dom, with an oof. They both scrambled away, Dom out of surprise, and Billy out of disbelief. "What the-" 

Dom reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. "Where the hell have you been?" There was hurt in his eyes, and a healthy dose of anger. 

"Out." Billy said, feeling far more sober than anyone in his shape should have. 

"Couldn't wait to go out and get blasted?"

Billy frowned. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you on a plane?"

"Billy." Dom grinned, wryly. "I couldn't do it. I was going to surprise you..."

"I didn't want to sleep in our bed... without you." Billy said, a slightly delayed reaction. He felt a little buzzed, but his mind was clear enough to know that Dom being back was a good thing and that pissing Dom off wasn't. 

"Oh. Oh." And Dom smiled, just a little bit, like he didn't want to but couldn't quite help it. 

Billy sat down on the bed and leaned over, touching Dom's face. He didn't quite know what to say - 

"You ruined it." Dom said, again. 

"Aye? What did I ruin?" Billy was grinning now, it was sinking in - Dom, here, not leaving, not gone. 

"Come on." Dom grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. "Here." He pushed him down onto the couch, tongue peeking out from between his lips. "Stay." 

Dom went into the kitchen. Billy heard shuffling noises, metal on metal, and then the door opened - and a small, yapping furball shot out of the door, and right into Billy's lap, his entire body wiggling with the force of his tail, licking Billy's face. Billy laughed, long and hard, cuddling the puppy close to him. "Dom!"

And then Dom was by his side, on the couch, scratching the mutt behind his ears. "Surprise." He said, softly, and when Billy tilted his head to look at him, Dom leaned over and kissed him. "Did I do okay?"

The puppy settled between them, dividing it's attention. "I'm definitely surprised."

"What are you going to name it?" Dom said, letting an arm drape around Billy's shoulders. Billy settled in, smiling. 

"I don't know..." He stared at the puppy, who was now playfully chomping at Billy's hand. "What do you think about Sblom? Eh, pup, do you think you're a Sblomie?" Dom laughed, a pleasant vibrating against Billy's body.

The puppy looked up with bright eyes and barked. "Sblomie."


End file.
